by Aaron Bertinetti

©2009 Aaron Bertinetti

Some would lead you to believe that Microsoft has announced its full line up, whilst others would simply tell you that its competitors are very good at announcing… but not so good on delivering within a year.

But it was leading up to E3 last year when Microsoft made a somewhat public change of policy in regards to announcing their exclusive holiday lineups.

The promise for this year has always been to focus their firepower on E3 and then deliver the majority of those titles between October 2009 and March 2010.

Even for journalists, who know that at least some of the titles below exist, it’s been somewhat shocking to see Microsoft hold themselves to that promise so determinedly.

Thankfully it’s only a matter of time until their lips are loose…

Slip down to the bottom after you’ve read the list of course, and let us know in our Poll What you think will be THE 360 Exclusive at E3.

10. Silicon Knights

Yep that’s right, we want Too Human 2. Why? Because for all of Too Human’s faults, there was a solid premise, interesting mechanics and a unique gameplay experience to be found underneath an exterior of poorly tested gameplay, underwhelming narrative, a poorly explained control scheme and an inconsistent level of polish and presentation.

But more so than Too Human 2, we’d love a sequel to the Gamecube masterwork Eternal Darkness. We know we might be dreaming, but for as long as Silicon Knights is standing we’ll always hold hope that they revisit their best piece of work to date.

9. MMOs

For all the promises of MMO’s on the 360, three years in and we’re still scraping at the bottom of a very big library to find one. The 360 is made for MMO’s. Or more specifically Xbox Live.

It has a gaming base of 20 million subscribers who consider playing online as standard practice and who’ve shown a rapidly increasing enthusiasm for purchasing and consuming online content. If there’s a missing link in Microsoft’s online cash cow, it’s the MMO.

But times are starting to change. Developers have thrown almost everything via the PC at Blizzard’s behemoth World of Warcraft and nothing has come close. What is needed is a new approach, and 20 million Xbox Live subscribers that don’t have access to World of Warcraft offers a massive opportunity to an MMO developer who can get their serious attention.

King amongst these is All Points Bulletin (APB). A game from the creators of Lemmings, Grand Theft Auto and much loved 360 exclusive Crackdown. Currently slated for PC but possibly consoles, rumours have been swirling that APB may well be console exclusive and Microsoft will include it in its E3 press conference.

Huxley, Champions Online, Age of Conan, and Lord of the Rings are all being developed or rumoured to being developed for consoles, but its APB with its persistent, cel-shaded, GTA inspired design that’s really got our eye.

8. Bungie Project

Ever since Bungie and Microsoft amicably parted ways soon after the release of the ridiculously successful Halo 3 in September 2007, there’s been one question on the very substantial and loyal Bungie community… What’s next?

And with the delivery of Halo ODST imminent, that question is getting louder as we wonder what exactly the game was that Microsoft was (perhaps) unwilling to support internally.

It could conceivably be another Halo in some form or another, with recent rumour mongering centred on Halo: Reach, an apparent title leak on Bungie’s online forum. But we’d love to see Bungie live a little more dangerously and invest the studio’s immense talent into a new IP and a new genre.

And yet amongst all that uncertainty, there is one certainty… If Bungie unveils something on tonight we have no doubt it’ll blow us away like every other time they’ve stepped on stage.

No more sleeps left, here comes Santa?

7. Halo 4

It’s getting around that time again, and whilst a new fully fledged sequel to Halo 3 isn’t likely to drop until next year, we’ve learnt over the years that Microsoft has a habit of pulling giant rabbits out of tiny hats (see Final Fantasy XIII). In the case of the Halo franchise, Microsoft has generally stuck to the rule of announcing one year in advance of a hands-on showing at E3.

And whilst may gamers would love to see Bungie at the helm, we think Microsoft has been recruiting for a little too long for their own studio to not want to flex its newly constructed in-house muscle led by blockbuster experts Ryan Payton and Frank O’Connor.

We know it’s an off chance, but you can’t fault the dream!

6. Motion Controls

It’s been rumoured for some years now, but when Microsoft buys a company highly specialised in 3D motion control and the Wall Street Journal reports on its imminent use with the Xbox 360, it’s probably worth an even bet at least.

Based on numerous business reports, Microsoft purchased 3DV last year and now owns its proprietary infrared and vision camera technology, which is far more advanced than the 2D motion control seen in Sony’s EyeToy, Microsoft’s Vision Camera, and infinitely more advanced than the industry leading motion controls of the Nintendo Wii.

Fingertip controls, playing in the dark, 3D mapping of your face onto your Avatar and HD versions of every third party title on the Wii immediately become possibilities upon an announcement. If true it also signals that Microsoft believes they have Sony’s measure and are moving directly into competition with the higher priced Nintendo Wii.

We’re cautious on motion controls, but if done right Microsoft could truly turn the console world upside down… if it’s true that is.

5. Crackdown 2

The original Crackdown was originally regarded as a mere vessel for access to the Halo 3 beta, but with time it’s quickly become recognised as one of Microsoft’s strongest new IPs this generation and a staple in many hardcore sandboxing gamers.

With a developer pedigree from GTA and Lemmings, it really shouldn’t have been a surprise. But the technically accomplished, cel-shaded mayhem in a vast urban world was for its time unmatched and still to this day provides plenty of guffaws with its comic art design and living, breathing world. And the multiplayer was an absolute blast!

Rumours have been circling for a while now and with the curious release of a premium theme a week out from E3 and for a game almost three years old, we’ve got a pretty good feeling about this. Prototype and Infamous have worn their Crackdown influences on their sleeves, but it’s time for the kingpin to return. And frankly Microsoft would be mad to not make it happen.

4. Mistwalker

One of the best long term gaming investments Microsoft has made is the financial backing and creative freedom it has extended to Final Fantasy creator Hironbobu Sakaguchi and his Mistwalker studio. Whilst Blue Dragon was moderately successful, it was last year’s Lost Odyssey with its stunning production values, subtle gameplay tweaks and far more mature themes compared to more traditional Final Fantasy games that really hailed the studio as one to watch.

Strangely absent from last year’s E3 conference, we’re expecting big things from this blossoming studio come E3 2009. Lost Odyssey is for many the best JRPG of this generation, but 2010 will be different with the arrival of the next instalment in Sakaguchi’s best known creation, Final Fantasy, arriving for the Xbox 360 and PS3 simultaneously. And whilst Sakaguchi is no longer at the helm of the Final Fantasy franchise, he may well have a point to prove and more importantly, the commercial incentive to avoid the Final Fantasy behemoth.

Sakaguchi has said he’s working on something and given the cancellation of the quietly ambitious Cry On, we suspect that room had to be made for something very special indeed.

Perhaps their publisher Microsoft has an internal release date for them to meet? And whilst we’d probably play anything Sakaguchi makes, we really hope it lets us get “lost” all over again.

3. Rare

Forget the cynics, because Rare has gone from strength to strength. They’ve provided five exclusives to the 360 library in just three years at an average of 81 on Metacritic.

There’s not another developer worldwide that can make those sort of claims and then have time to develop and expand Avatars on the dashboard, ship a Nintendo DS title and still find time to oversee the polishing of some of their great classics being re-released on XBLA including Jetpac Refuelled, Banjo Kazooie and Banjo Tooie.

In OXCGN’s opinion every game Rare’s made has been better than the last with their most recent, Banjo Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts, a game well ahead of its time but showing a developer rich in confidence, ambition and style. Yet that was only the beginning…

Rare has at least three projects in the works that our spies know of. So being the betting types we’re hedging our bets that one is a sequel, one is a new or re-imagined IP and one is online and Avatar related.

But given Rare are such workhorses, we also expect some announcements regarding an increasingly aggressive schedule of HD releases their almost unparalleled back catalogue, which is full of rich pickings such as Killer Instinct, Conker, Blast Corps, Battletoads, Jet Force Gemini, and Perfect Dark.

2. Lionhead Studios

Some call it Dimitri, some call it Project X and even some call it Richter. It’s that elusive idea that Lionhead has been working on longer than the Fable franchise. And somehow they’ve, or more specifically Peter Molyneux, has kept a lid on it.

If Microsoft wants to throw a spanner in the works and really take the games press by the balls then Molyneux‘s‘ most ambitious work will be revealed.

Based initially around a singular idea and the evolving of artificial intelligence, the experiments at Lionhead have since become something far greater, gaining a supposed scientific significance and in the process becoming, well, “controversial”.

To be honest, apart from some long distance whispers (England’s a long way from Australia!), the only thing we can measure its potential by is the internal buzz at Microsoft. Their confidence in remaining silent on this one, including the usually bombastic Molyneux, is unnerving even for us. It seems that Microsoft thinks it’s sitting on a royal flush, biding its time to go all in.

We just hope that when the cards are laid out come June 1, Molyneux goes home a winner.

1. Forza 3

Turn 10’s third spin at the wheel is quite possibly the worst kept secret in the games industry. And whilst arcade racers are a dime a dozen and the hybrid racer is having a comeback with the outstanding and gorgeous GRID, the reality is that a lot of us are still playing Turn 10’s unparalleled simulation masterwork.

OXCGN has dedicated itself to Forza 3 with a community that continues to produce one of the longest and most popular wish lists we’ve ever seen! (Ed: Check out our Team OXCGN Racing page)

The rumours of 400 cars; 100 tracks; new race types including drift, drag, oval and point to point; even more customisation and user creation; a completely refined graphics and damage engine; and an enhanced online feature set, have had us salivating for months.

Turn 10 had us sold right there, but then Forza’s community manager, Che Chou, decided to drop a tiny bombshell of over-excitement last year by stating “(we) have figured out ways to push the 360 in ways I didn’t think were possible in terms of both visuals and performance…You’ll pardon me if I sound a little excited, because, frankly, I’m frickin’ psyched.”

SOLD! It’s time to kick the tires and light the fires Microsoft. Just confirm the bloody thing!

Agree? Disagree? Vote on the poll and comment below.

©2009 Aaron Bertinetti

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Filed under: Console gaming, E3 2009, Editorial, Game Industry News, Industry News, Xbox 360, Xbox 360 3rd Party Games, Xbox 360 News, Xbox 3rd party exclusives, Xbox Community Network Tagged: | Banjo Kazooie, Banjo Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts, Banjo Tooie, Blue Dragon, eternal darkness, Forza, Forza 3, Forza 3 news, forzamotorsport 3, Halo: Reach, Hironbobu Sakaguchi, Jetpac Refuelled, Lost Odyssey, Metacritic, Mistwalker, OXCGN Forza 3, rare, Rare Studios, Sakaguchi, Too Human 2